Five Lies You May Have Been Told About Blogging
The blogging world is full of advice and thoughts on the best way to run our online spaces. Blogging is such a young and new (and exciting) industry that, really, there aren't any hard and fast rules to follow. What is true to you may not be to another blogger (and visa versa) and today I just wanted to share five lies you may have been told about blogging that personally I haven't found to be true, in the hopes of reminding you that your blogging adventure is your own to define.
A growth in followers and traffic is all that matters We all seem to be pretty obsessed with our Bloglovin' follower count and what our Google Analytics is telling us - for a long time I used to define my success and growth by those metrics. I shared a post a while back on why You Are More Than Just Your Traffic, and I've really discovered in recent months how it's what those followers and traffic converts to that matters. All the subscribers and unique visitors in the world doesn't really matter if they're not engaged readers who are excited about what you're doing and creating, and defining our blogs by just numbers alone is a sure and fast way to be disappointed.
It’s all about working with brands There's a huge focus on brand work these days in the blogging world, and I think it's so easy for bloggers to feel left out, or like they're not doing it right if they're not working with brands on a weekly basis. The thing is, brand work can tend to support the brand way more than it does the readers and I think it's hard to ignore the shift in tone of some blogs when working with brands tends to take a priority. I made the decision quite a few months back now to never accept sponsored content or brand work for this online space - it doesn't fit in with the purpose of Jennypurr and I don't believe it could add much value to my content for my readers. Brand collaborations can be a great way to expand your network and of course make some money, but if it doesn't fit in with your goals or what you want to do with your space then know that it's not the only way to develop and grow with your blog.
Blogging is dead I think this has been said every year for the past few and the industry has continued to defy expectations and grow and grow into something bigger than before. Blogging as what we once knew it to be five years ago may have come and gone, it's since evolved into something way more, but as an industry and a medium I think it's only really just getting started. We have the opportunity to really define what we want blogging to be, and there are so many niche's and communities around the web that really, there's space for so many different opinions and ways to utilise this medium. Hearing that blogging is dead may put some newer bloggers off from starting up their own online space, but personally I think there's so much freedom in the fact that you can reinvent the wheel, try something new, and raise the bar of what a blog can be.
Advertising & affiliates are the only ways to make money There's no shame in wanting to monetise your online space - you pour blood, sweat, and tears into sharing awesome content with the world and you've seen how many before you have turned it into a profitable income stream. Monetising for the sake of monetising in my opinion is a little pointless, but if you have a business plan and innovative ideas and something awesome to share with the world then a blog can be a great way to find your audience. General consensus is that advertising networks and affiliate links are the best way to make a living from your blog, but personally I'm a huge advocate for monetising your skills not just your web space. There's no point just adding to the noise, but if you have something really exciting to share with the world and can find a way to package and market it you have the opportunity to develop your online presence into a business.
It’s a dog eat dog world Sometimes it can feel like we're all just competing with each other, and if you see enough passive aggressive comments towards fellow bloggers and direct criticisms of how others are running their blogs you can end up feeling like that's the way to behave and survive in this industry. The thing is, we're all just colleagues in this big awesome industry and if we can all start see that someone else's success doesn't take away from our own we can start to build a better community together. I feel so lucky that the majority of online content creators I've got to know are super talented, supportive, and awesome women who root for each other every step of the way. Change starts with you, and if you want to nurture a positive and supportive community that doesn't thrive on tearing each other down then we have to promote that ourselves. If you feel like you're surrounded by negative and competitive people, just step outside and find the right online community for you because I promise it doesn't have to be a dog eat dog world if we don't want it to be.
What about you, I'd love to know your thoughts?
This months Spotlight Advertiser
Three of this months sidebar advertisers